Quinoa Pizza Bites

I always find it interesting the questions Mr. Prevention fields once people find out I’m a dietitian. It’s never, “Does she eat really healthy?” it’s more, “So does she make you eat really healthy?”.

Of course, I’m curious to know how he answers as I’m never around for these conversations at his place of work. He says that he responds with something along the lines of, “She cooks really healthy, but she doesn’t make me eat really healthy.” I think that’s a fair statement and I am definitely not the food police when it comes to Mr. P – I’d never be off duty and our marriage, without a doubt, would’ve been over before it started. The man has a love for late night eating of all things sugar-packed. I’m just glad (and very, very jealous) that his metabolism hasn’t gotten wind of this fact and he remains a very healthy weight for his generous 6 foot 2-inch frame. Life just aint fair sometimes!

For as many times as I’ve served up quinoa and for as many times as he’s liked quinoa (every time, for the record), I’m unclear as to why he still hears “quinoa” in a recipe I serve up and gives me the “Are you serious?” look of disapproval. I remind him, for the bazillionth time, that he does, in fact, like quinoa. To which I usually receive back a snide comment about how he also likes pizza…and I never make that.

In this recipe, he can have his quinoa…and pizza, too. I jumped on the opportunity to blend nutrition with pizza in this one. While the bites required a bit of finesse to loosen from the pan, this is a keeper recipe with regard to the ingredient list. As I noted below, I am going to try this in a 9 x 9 and extend the cooking time just a bit. The bites are cute, sure, but they’re so not worth the hassle. Plus, I got complaints from the man about how they crumbled a bit after bite #1 so that bite #2 offered no option for dunking in the pizza sauce….which, for the record, make these pizza bites truly pizza-like.

Furthermore, I love this recipe for the simple fact that you can add in anything and everything. My favorite pizzas include green olive, mushroom, and turkey pepperoni (apparently, I go all out with regard to sodium where pizza preferences are concerned), or the runner up in my heart, ham and pineapple. Truly, any combination in here would work beautifully.

If you can plan it that you have leftover quinoa to use in this recipe, you’re looking at a meal that has less than 10 minutes of hands-on time, and can even be prepped ahead of time. Heck, it could even be baked ahead of time and reheated for a super quick weeknight meal.

Mr. Prevention…he wasn’t complaining about quinoa when he went back for seconds and thirds of these. Mmmm mmmmm!

Result: These were great and the flavor was phenomenal. The only thing I hated was trying to get these adorable bites out of the muffin tin. If you’re sold on the bite sizes, be sure to perhaps butter your tin. A quick, but fairly generous, spray of olive oil from my Misto was not enough to release these suckers easily. I would suggest making this into a 9 x 9 and spreading the pizza sauce on top and serving that way (3-4 servings). Extend the baking time by about 10 minutes, but I think it would work great…and I do intend on trying it this way! Mr. Prevention enjoyed these and even heated them up to have leftover — a clear sign they were good and pizza-y. Enjoy!

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My hockey game was canceled last night on account of the 65 degree weather…in Michigan…in December. It’s hard to get water to harden into ice under such conditions in an outdoor facility…so, I came home to a glass of wine and a chat with Donna 🙂 Hockey tonight for sure…indoors!

I’m cracking up over here, because this post reminds me so much of Nick and me. PEople actually ask ME if I force Nick to eat healthy. They assume “he must be the healthiest man in Columbus”. lol. Yeah right. Also, Nick only hears the word quinoa too. I swear he loves it, yet he claims to hate it. Wierdo. I think he tried it in something once and didn’t like it, but now he has to like it because I have used it a million times and he always gobbles it up. AND, I’m sure he would love this recipe too!

Arrrghhh! I needed this yesterday! I was craving pepperoni pizza LIKE MAD! I ended up settling for mac n’ cheese with sliced turkey pepperoni thrown in, but I think this would’ve been a million times yummier. Thanks for posting this—so glad to have a healthy alternative to Pizza Hut!!

Hah, I feel like I’m reading my life. I may cook healthy but I don’t make my hubby eat healthy and when people hear about my blog they always ask him that too! Ahh! My hubby is very thin so none of them suspect all the junk food he eats, LOL. These look SO yummy! I bet the kids would love these 😀

Hi Heather! If you want to try “finger food” maybe try for fritter-shaped? I think balls might crumble a bit, but if you could smash them into fritters, I do think that would work and rather well at that!

The first time I suggested making these to my husband, he looked rather sceptical. However, now he actually requests that I make them pretty much every second week! Thanks for this recipe, it’s become an absolute staple in our household 🙂

I’ve made it as both a casserole and the bites actually, and haven’t had a problem with the bites sticking. I’ve used a few different methods (depending on what I’ve got on hand) – butter, olive oil and also some canola oil spray. Although my “bites” tend to be made in a normal sized muffin tray instead of the mini muffins – don’t know if that makes a difference?